Ino's Somewhat Happy Ending
by ReaperDuckling
Summary: "So…?" The blond prodded, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of her voice. "…how do I look?" Part of the Happy Ending series. Implied Ino/Chouji


**AN: **Some endings just aren't as happy as others. However, if you ever read Sai's Happy Ending, you'll see that Ino turned out pretty nice too. =)

**Warnings: **Angst

* * *

_**~8**__**th**__** of June~**_

They put up another war memorial.

A simple stone standing next to the other by the graveyard, the one from the third ninja war, with name after name after name of family and friends and coworkers carved into it with small, delicate letters.

The name at the top of the list was Tsunade's.

Her name was traced with gentle fingers by Shizune, that was sitting by the foot of the stone sobbing quietly even as Kakashi held his speech to the villagers, _his _villagers now, of how the fallen would never be forgotten, of how they were _heroes. _

He spoke pretty words of peace and new beginnings, the syllables rolling off of his tongue clumsily, and had to fight the urge to smile (_a twisted, sad smile_) when he caught himself telling everyone about the will of fire, and the springtime of youth.

Kakashi watched his people morn; watched Tsume hug Hinata to her harshly (_the older woman crying for the death of her only son, the younger for her comrades and her father_), watched the cold emptiness swim in Ino's, Shikamaru's, Chouji's and Lee's eyes, and the tears that fell freely from Naruto's cheeks (_he cried for them all, friends and strangers, deceased and those left to live with the weight of it. It made Kakashi think bitterly about how he should have been made Hokage, how much more __**worthy **__Naruto would have been_) – and it made him think about the joint shinobi army, about the pretty words of alliances and friendship, about one nation, one people.

And yet, the only names written on the stone were the ones of Konoha's own.

In death, everyone had been divided, and everyone was alone.

He thought about his meeting with his father in the afterlife, and wondered how many others there were sitting there now, staring at the flickering of flames in the darkness of limbo, awaiting their loved ones.

He wondered if Neji was one of them, waiting to tell Lee that it was alright, he'd given his life willingly but they'd always be friends, please be happy? Was Hiashi sitting next to him, waiting for Hinata and Hanabi?

He wondered if Tsunade had been reunited with Jiraiya, and if, at least in death, he'd finally found the courage to tell her how he felt.

A mental image of Shikaku, Chôza and Inoichi sitting by the fire, laughing and reminiscing about the good old days of their life's while awaiting their children and wife's struck him suddenly, making him force down a smile.

And then another, one of Rin and Obito (_a child in death. Innocent and pure, like he'd once been, before war and death and __**pain**__ had crushed and malformed him_) sitting by the fire, waiting for _**him**_, for them to be together again like they were meant to – and suddenly he knew, he just _**knew**_, that they'd be alright.

There was a wedding ring around his finger, spreading warmth throughout his entire body, and before he knew what he was doing, Kakashi found himself walking up to Shizune by the stone and putting a hand on her trembling shoulder.

He raised his head, and spoke to his people.

"We'll be alright… _They're _watching over us."

_**~10**__**th**__** of July~**_

They were standing waiting for them about three hundred meters from the village edge; a group of twenty or so ANBU ninjas that fell down on the forest floor around them like the leaves their precious village was named after.

At the sight of them Sasuke, Juugo and Suigetsu all skidded to a halt, quickly formatting themselves so that they were standing shoulder to shoulder to shoulder.

The circle of ANBU's closed in on them from every direction.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" One of the ninjas stepped forward, a woman by the sound of it. "We have you outnumbered and at our mercy! Now we command you and your companions to lay down your arms and come with us peacefully, or we _**will **_have you dealt with like any other A-class criminal…" she cracked her knuckles. "…by which I mean death."

This one had no love of him, apparently.

He smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

"Alright everyone!" Suigetsu cheered, and drew his sword. "Looks like these fellows wanna play! Juugo are you with me?! We'll go on three! One…"

"Lay _**down **_your arms!"

"…two…"

"Good luck." Juugo whispered to Sasuke.

"You too."

"…three!"

Not allowing himself the shadow of a doubt, Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and watched his friends jump _**over **_and beside the ANBU in front of them, darting onwards towards the village.

Before the guards had gotten the chance to realize what had just happened and followed, Sasuke took a deep breath and whispered: "Amaterasu", even though he knew that it would be for the last time.

Through the pain and the heat of the black flames, he felt a trickle of blood rinse down his cheek.

The darkness was spreading across his vision.  
He watched the fire spread through the forest; watched the ANBU guards scream with terror as it lit their bodies like grotesque, skeleton candles; he watched them crumble and die on the forest floor like flies and smelled the stench of decay from them – everything with the detached fascination of a man watching a play.

Sasuke watched the flame eat their way through wood and moss, flesh and bones; knowing full well that it would be the last things he'd ever see.

_**~18**__**th**__** of July~**_

She pushed Sakura's hands away with gentle fingers.

It wasn't because she didn't appreciate the gesture, Ino was actually _infinitely_grateful to have her friend there with her, she just felt like this was something she needed to do herself.

Lifting her shaking hands to her face, the blond began the tiresome work of unfolding layer after layer of bandages from her head.

Once everything was off, she opened her eyes to the light for the first time since that night with her ANBU team in the woods, and saw Chouji.

He was giving her a sad, soft smile that sent her heart fluttering for a thousand of reasons at once. Sakura was sitting in the chair beside him, clutching a mirror nervously to her chest and Ino's mother was standing stiffly staring out of the window.

"So…?" The blond prodded, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of her voice. "…how do I look?"

The two youths shared an awkward glance, and then the pink haired medical kunoichi reached the small hand mirror out to her.

"The burns _**does**_ look better…" she explained, as Ino accepted the gift. "…when you first came in here, they were at a level three severity. Now they don't look to be more than at a level one. The scar, though…"

Slowly, the blond raised the mirror to her face and took in her new appearance.

Considering what had happened to her team members, Ino had been lucky.

The flames of Sasuke's Amaterasu had gnawed into and scorched her skin from her left shoulder and upwards; over her neck and into the flesh of her cheek and ear to stop just below her left eye. It had eaten up most of her hair as well, leaving her almost completely bald with the exception of a few tufts of short, blond locks here and there.

She looked horrible.

"…the scar will stay, don't ask me for how long. It could be everything from a couple of years to the rest of your life."

Ino felt her eyes sting with hot tears.

Sakura seemed to notice, because suddenly, her voice was laced with panic:  
"But your hair will grow back! It may take some time to get it as long as you're used to, but with some time and patience… We can cover the scars up with makeup!"

Ino ducked her head down, trying to hide her face from the eyes of three of the most important people in her life, not wanting them to see how _**disgusting **_she was as her shoulders shook with sobs and her face twisted in silent anger.

This… this wasn't _**fair! **_

This wasn't supposed to happen – she was supposed to be strong! To laugh it all off with a joke or two, she was a kunoichi of Konoha, not a super model, the fact that she'd suddenly become _**ugly **_wasn't supposed to affect her like this!

And then, a soft hand came to rest at her undamaged cheek, and she found herself looking into a pair of beautiful blue eyes, the best ones she knew.

She tried to pull away.  
"D-don't… don't look at me, please… I don't want you to _**see**_-"

"Why…?" The older woman interrupted, not letting her escape. Then, she smiled and plucked a lone flower from one of the many bouquets on Ino's bedside table to plant behind her burnt ear. "…you look just as beautiful as always..."

She let out a strangled half cry, half laugh. Her mother, beautiful and sweet and absolutely amazing, only chuckled and pressed her lips against her daughter's forehead.

"…only stronger."


End file.
